The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar is set for release on the PC in November 2006, and we met with Codemasters to see the game before it moves into alpha stage. The massively multiplayer online role-playing game is being developed in Boston by Turbine, with Codemasters handling distribution, service, and payments. The US release schedule is exactly the same, with Midway covering distribution and Turbine maintaining the service side.

The game is based on the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, with all the content licensed from the literary works instead of from the recent movies. This has allowed the designers to create a much more in-depth re-creation of Middle-earth and its backstory than was seen in the recent movies. For example, whereas the first film covers the gathering of the Fellowship at Rivendell and the subsequent journey to Mount Doom, the book says that it is some nine months before they embark on their journey while a path is cleared for them. The main quests in The Lord of the Rings Online will be to take part in this clearing mission, making a figure-of-eight across the path of the Fellowship.